Removing the "bottleneck" of the national university model: The problem of the position of the school board

At the workshop on the morning of May 15, at Ho Chi Minh City University of Law, Associate Professor Dr. Huynh Ky Phuong Ha, Vice President of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam National University, pointed out a "bottleneck" in university governance.

He said that to integrate internationally, the revised law needs to unify the definition of higher education institutions according to common standards.

Citing specific examples of member universities in national universities, Mr. Ha said that member universities have been and are fully performing the functions of an educational institution in training, implementing training programs, granting and conferring degrees.

This clearly positions the member school as a higher education institution. Therefore, the schools need to be empowered to exercise all the responsibilities and powers of university autonomy.

Associate Professor, Dr. Huynh Ky Phuong Ha, Vice Principal of Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Vietnam National University (Photo: Huyen Nguyen).

According to the Vice President of the University of Technology, the key to implementing strong autonomy is the school council. The school council is very important, needs to be implemented and is responsible and accountable to society, which is a prerequisite for member schools to strongly demonstrate university autonomy.

Discussing this issue, Professor Nguyen Tien Thao, Director of the Department of Higher Education, said that the Law drafting committee is considering two options based on the 2024 supervision conclusion of the National Assembly's Committee for People's Aspirations and Supervision, directing consideration of the parallel existence of two councils.

The drafting committee has sent all documents to solicit comments on the national and regional university models, and requested units to organize internal conferences and seminars, agree on the viewpoints and have written proposals.

The focus is on studying the feasibility of coexisting two councils in parallel when the autonomy of both the national university and the schools is equal. The alternative is to reduce the role of one of the two.

Professor Nguyen Tien Thao, Director of the Department of Higher Education (Photo: Huyen Nguyen).

At the workshop, Director Nguyen Tien Thao also introduced policy proposals of the revised Higher Education Law Project. Of which, policy 1 is to improve the effectiveness of state management and create an advanced university governance system.

Regarding this group of policies, it is expected to stipulate the subjects of application of higher education institutions and educational institutions with higher education activities. Types of higher education institutions: national universities, regional universities, universities, colleges, academies...; Legal status of internal units. Two-level model of national universities and regional universities.

"University autonomy is the proactive right of higher education institutions in deciding on activities according to legal regulations; linking autonomy with accountability of higher education institutions; Conditional autonomy (as in current law) is no longer applied."

"Autonomy - accountability and quality assurance are consistent in all activities of higher education," emphasized Director of the Department of Higher Education Nguyen Tien Thao.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son speaks at the conference (Photo: Huyen Nguyen).

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Hoang Minh Son said that society is placing high expectations on this law amendment. This amendment will create a legal corridor for higher education institutions to make breakthroughs and develop more strongly in the coming period.

The draft law inherits about 55% of the current content, while significantly reducing the number of administrative processes and procedures.

Previously, sharing at the discussion "Consulting on policies to build a revised draft law on higher education" on May 14, Associate Professor Dr. Bui Xuan Hai, Rector of Hai Phong University, attracted attention with his bold proposal to study the elimination of the model of two national universities and regional universities, avoiding the situation of "one neck, two yokes". This opinion is receiving public attention.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/go-diem-nghen-mo-hinh-dai-hoc-quoc-gia-bai-toan-vi-the-hoi-dong-truong-20250515123518945.htm